


Mourning

by kittybenzedrine



Series: Timelines [44]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Grief/Mourning, Infant Death, Parent-Child Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 01:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17111855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittybenzedrine/pseuds/kittybenzedrine
Summary: As a man of fifty, it feels almost strange for Leo to have his adult daughter laying in bed between him and his wife. Dead center of the queen sized bed, stealing most of his pillow space. Rachel hasn't done something like this in nearly two decades, not since she was about three and whining about a nightmare. But with her knees curled up and pushed into his stomach, her face in his shoulder while she sobs, it doesn’t feel very strange after all._____All pieces of the Timelines series are standalones and can be read without context.





	Mourning

**Author's Note:**

> Was originally a short in a larger piece, but I broke said work up and make them their own works. This has likely been edited from its original piece.

As a man of fifty, it feels almost strange to have his adult daughter laying in bed between him and his wife. Dead center of the queen sized bed, stealing most of his pillow space. Rachel hasn't done something like this in nearly two decades, not since she was about three and whining about a nightmare. But with her knees curled up and pushed into his stomach, her face in his shoulder while she sobs, it doesn’t feel very strange after all. He works his fingers into her mess of brown hair, and frankly he'd be a liar if he said he wasn't a little teary himself.

Just four short months ago, Rachel got the news that her husband was killed overseas in a completely avoidable accident. He was killed on base due to the error of a fellow soldier, making it even more unexpected. He never even saw a firefight. And just a short week later, days after the funeral, their son was born. Rachel didn’t really have a name for him, and took Leo’s middle name for him. So their family became a family of four with the addition of Samson.

Samson is a calm, easy baby. Seeing as Rachel was his first and only child, and the fact that he had only met and started dating her mother once Rachel was already two-ish, Leo doesn't have much reference. He's never had a newborn. But the boy seems like an easy baby. Doesn't fuss much, growing as he should, meeting all his little milestones perfectly on time. A head of soft blond hair as opposed to the darker shades of his parents, which Renee claims happens to at least one Valant child per brood. He's cute. There's a long running debate between the three adults on whether or not the baby's eyes are going to stay blue, turn Rachel and Renee's shade of green, or darken out to his father's brown. Either way, he'll still be a cute baby.

Leo enjoys being a grandfather the way he enjoyed being a godfather, back before Rachel was in his life. He likes being able to dote on the little thing, to give out those rare ounces of paternal affection that he has all with the comforting knowledge that he can hand the baby back the moment he so much as sniffles wrong. He likes the little bonding moments. Lounging in the recliner with Samson in his lap, both of them zoned out on whatever animal show re-runs are on the Discovery channel. Quietly reading him whatever novel is nearby, never mind the content. Blowing raspberries on his tiny tummy to test out the little one's smile reflex. Rachel isn't very keen on the whole parenting thing, in fact she hates it at least ten times more than Leo ever did. So he's perfectly content to bond with his grandson during the day and hand the boy back to his daughter at night.

It’s been good. Renee’s been enjoying the grandma part too. _She_ doesn’t mind doing the over nights twice a week, and while Leo’s not keen on being woken up by Samson’s hungry 3AM cries, he knows his daughter needs the help. She just lost her husband, the father of this child. So he bears with it.

Four nights ago, he was awoken by his phone going off. It was Rachel. Leo figured that she was stressed out with Samson’s crying, he was already cutting a tooth and very unhappy about it. But she was hysterical when he picked up, unintelligible other than him being able to pick out the word 'baby' a few times. Leo was up so fast that he startled Renee awake, who was curtly told to get dressed  _now_. They ended up meeting Rachel at the hospital, still crying too hard to get any words out to the two of them. He hears something whispered between nurses as he waits with his girl, just twenty-two and going through some of the hardest things in her life. The nurses whisper about a dead-on-arival, and half an hour passes before a grim faced doctor quietly greets the three of them.

They put Samson in the ground today, next to his father. SIDS was the cause, it seems. Awake and suddenly gone, just in the three-ish hours between his nightly feedings. He had likely passed just after being laid down for sleep, had already been gone for an hour minimum by the time he was found. They won't know the exact cause for a few more months, not until all the reports come back. But the baby is gone, and Rachel is barely functional.

Rachel holds onto him, her fist tight in his shirt as she struggles to breathe through all the snot and congestion. The front of Leo’s shirt is wet and her knees pressing into his stomach is making him want to vomit. Somewhere in this, while he silently sheds a few tears of his own, he can feel Renee smooth a trembling hand back and forth across their daughter's leg.

Tonight, he lays in bed and comforts his only child, while she mourns hers.

**Author's Note:**

> Hop on the suffering train with me. Merry Suffermas.
> 
> I'm always very appreciative of your comments and kudos, so don't be shy about leaving either of those!
> 
> I have [my blog](http://iwillpooponthefloor.tumblr.com) on tumblr, if you'd like to check that out.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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